The Nigerian government has informed a Lagos Federal High Court that it has not stopped Nigerians from using Twitter.
It disclosed that many Nigerians are still using the social media platform daily.
The Nigerian government and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami in a counter-affidavit deposed to in response to an originating motion filed by human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong.
In the affidavit deposed to by Mr Ilop Lawrence on behalf of the Federal Government, Malami said the suspension of Twitter was not an abuse of human rights because Nigerians were still using social media platform.
It read in part, “The applicant (Effiong) and the class he seeks to represent can still operate those Twitter accounts from anywhere in the world and even from Nigeria. Nigerians are still tweeting, even at this moment as the ban on Twitter is not aimed at intimidating Nigerians or an infringement on the rights of Nigerians to express their opinion.
“The respondents (Federal Government and AGF) have never stopped the applicant (Effiong) and the class of persons he seeks to represent from voicing their opinions to access government information and offer criticism where necessary.”
Recall that the Nigerian government had recently suspended the activities of Twitter in Nigeria.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had explained that Nigerians were using the micro-blogging site for activities against the unity of the country.
Following the ban, Malami had threatened to prosecute Nigerians discovered to be using the platform.
Against the backdrop of this decision, a Rights lawyer, Effiong, had dragged the Federal government to court.
Effiong joined Mohammed and Malami in the suit for suspending Twitter
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